Turnpike Roads in the Canterbury Area

TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA F.H. PANTON, M.B.E., B.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S.C., F.R.Ae.S. rNTRODUCTION: TURNPIKING IN KENT The first Turnpike Act, relating to a stretch of the London to York road between Wades Hill (Hertfordshire), Caxton (Cambridgeshire and Stilton (Huntingdon), was passed in 1663, and for the first time the collection of tolls from travellers on the road supplemented the common Jaw obligation on occupiers to maintain roads passing through their land. Public resistance restricted the success of this Act, and thirty years elapsed before the second Turnpike Act passed into law. It was not until the beginning of the eighteenth century that turnpiking really began and, at its height in the early nineteenth century, the country had an extensive turnpike road conglomeration of over 1,000 separate trusts, controlling 20,000 miles of main road and disposing of £1,500,000 toll income each year. The first turnpike road in Kent, between Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells, dates from 1709. The busy years for turnpiking in Kent were the 1760s, when 22 new acts of Parliament were passed into law. In all, by the 1820s, nearly 50 turnpike trust roads existed in Kent, comprising over 600 miles of main road out of the country's total of 4,300 miles. The total income of the Kent Trusts reached £55,000 in 1821, with an expenditure of £43,000 on repairs, an average of £70 per annum per mile. This percentage of roads turnpiked, less than 15 per cent by mileage, compares Kent unfavourably with counties like Middlesex, with 31 per cent and is more on a par with Lincolnshire, with 11½ per cent. Kent Trusts carried a total mortgage debt of nearly £200,000_ with very few assets apart from toll income. The peak year for income was 1834, just before the coming of the railways, when the total was £69,000 (£61,000 from tolls). Income then declined markedly and, in 1849, stood at £42,000 (£40,000 from tolls). As in other parts of the country, Kent trusts varied greatly in size and income. The largest income (apart from the New Cross trust, 171 Fig. 1. Turnpike Roads in the Canterbury Area. TURN PIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AR EA Serial Turnpike date miles A Chatham & Canterbury mo 23·5 B Macktnade & Oiilham 17J0 7.2 Branch. C D E Whit stable [)over- Barham Dover-Sandgatc 1736 1753 17Sl 5.1 8.2 F Faversham-Ashford- 1162 J6 Hylhe - Canterbury. G Biddcnden-Boundgace 1766 14.Z fl Bethersden 116 7 18.l J Canterbury pavement 1787 K Sandwich· Margate- 1188 ,o Ramsgacc L Canterbur y-Barham 1791 1.2 M Folkcstone-Barharn 1792 s.s N Ashford-Harn Street 1793 1..s 0 Ashford · Maidstone 1793 18. l P Dover- Sandwich 1197 1 s via Deaf Q Dover-Sandwich 1801 via Waldcrsharc R Can1crtury-Ramsgalc 1802 15.5 S Car«<:rtury-Samlwich 1802 11.2 T Stockcrshead- Bagham lt09 1.2 u Herne-Stu rry ISl4 52 TURNPIKE ROADS rN THE CANTERBURY AREA which operated partly on the outskirts of London) was that of the Tonbridge trust (£5,741 in 1841, declining to £785 in 1849), the smallest that of Ightham (£51 in 1821). Three trusts covered road distances of more than 30 miles, three between 20 and 30 miles, eight between 15 and 20 miles, fourteen between 10 and 15 miles, nineteen between 5 and 10 miles and two were under 5 miles in length,1-4 DEVELOPMENT OF TRUSTS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA It is generally held that trusts were fixed without real regard to neighbouring trusts or to general communications of the country, and that 'property, personal interest and local considerations appear to have induced the creation of these trusts, without any reference to uniformity as to their extent or general utility'. 5 The piecemeal growth in the Canterbury area supports these comments, though, as we shall see, the cumulative effect on the area as a whole was generally beneficial. The Canterbury-Chatham road was the first road leading out of Canterbury to be turnpiked, in 1730. 6 The Dartford-Strood stretch of the London-Dover road had been turn piked in 1711, 7 and with the turnpiking of the Whitstable-Canterbury road in 1736,8 Canterbury had improved its main roads to London and the sea. Canterbury then seemed to lose interest in turnpiking for fifty years. The Ashford to Canterbury road was turnpiked, it is true, in 1762,9 but this road was one branch of the Faversham, Ashford, Hythe and Canterbury trust, essentially centred in Ashford. In 1787, Parliament authorized the paving, cleansing, lighting and watching of the streets and roads of Canterbury by the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners.10 In addition to levying rates on the inhabitants of Canterbury, the Commissioners were empowered to collect tolls and coal duty, from traffic entering Canterbury, and to 1 British Parliamentary Papers, 1821, iv, 343 onwards. 2 British Parliamentary Papers, 1851, xlviii. Turnpike Trusts, County Reports, no. 1 Kent, 163-84. 3 Beatrice and Sydney Webb, Story of the King's Highway, reprinted 1963, 114-64. 4 W. Albert, The Turnpike System in England 1663-1846, 1972, 188-97. 5 British Parliamentary Papers, 1851, xlviii 174. 6 3 Geo. II C15. 7 10 Anne C16. 8 9 Geo. II ClO. 9 2 Geo. III C76. to 27 Geo. III Cl4. 173 F.H. PANTON set up toll bars outside the city for that purpose. In effect, the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners had powers and objectives similar to those of turnpike trusts, and must be considered as part of the road trust scene in the area. The Canterbury to Barham trust came in 1791, 11 and this completed the turnpiking of the London to Dover road along its new alignment, the Dover to Barham trust12 dating from 1753. The Canterbury to Ramsgate trust (in two districts, from Canterbury to Sarre, and from Sarre to Ramsgate) dates from 1802. The Sandwich to Canterbury trust also dates from 1802. 13 The completion of the turnpike roads linking Canterbury with east Kent coastal and other towns came with the institution of the Sandwich to Margate and Rams9ate trust in 1807, 14 the two Dover-Sandwich trusts, one via Deal, 5 in 1781 the other via Waldershare,16 in 1801, and the Sturry-Herne trust in 1814. 17 The Biddenden-CharingBoundgate turnpike ( connecting to the Faversham-Ashford road) had been set up in 1766, 18 the Mackenade (Faversham-SellingChilham) branch of the Chatham-Canterbury trust, in 1730 and the Stockershead19 (top of Charing Hill to Baghams Cross, Chilham) in 1809. By 1814, therefore, a nexus of some twenty independent trusts, together with the Pavement Commissioners in Canterbury, provided road communications in the east Kent-Canterbury area (Fig. 1). Although they had grown up piecemeal, and their genesis was inspired no doubt by local interests centring on particular towns, nevertheless they provided a comprehensive main road structure, both east-west, and north-south, probably better maintained and structured than in the previous 1500 years. It was possible to travel on turnpike roads from Canterbury to London and Dover, and from Canterbury to all the major towns in east Kent. Further afield, it was possible to travel on turnpike roads through Charing, Ashford, Smarden and Cranbrook towards Rye and the Sussex coast. Tolls and toll-bars would have made such journeys, though feasible, somewhat tedious and expensive. By 1851, it was estimated that there were over 290 toll-gates and bars in Kent, an average of six to 11 31 Geo. III C94. 12 26 Geo. II C32. 13 42 Geo. Ill C6. 14 47 Geo. III C22. 15 37 Geo. III Cl56. 16 41 Geo. III Cll. 17 54 Geo. III C51. 18 6 Geo. III C93. 19 49 Geo. III C92. 174 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA each trust, and of one gate to each two and one-fifth mile of turnpike road. 1 A journey from Margate to Cranbrook via Canterbury might involve nine different trusts those of Sandwich, Margate and Ramsgate; Canterbury-Ramsgate; Canterbury Pavement; FavershamAshford- Hythe-Canterbury; Stockershead-Baghams Cross; Biddenden and Boundgate; Tenterden; and Hawkhurst Junction. Depending on the route taken, up to 20 toll-bars might have to be crossed. Nevertheless, although not necessarily good, toll-roads afforded a feasible passage pretty well throughout the year. It is significant that the reputation of the Stone Street from Canterbury to Lympne, the only main route out of Canterbury not to be turnpiked, was not good. In the road-books of the time, Stone Street was described as follows 'This road is very rough and dangerous for carriage'.20 The turnpike route to Hythe via Ashford was recommended instead. MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF EAST KENT AND CANTERBURY TRUSTS Apart from those of the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners,21 available records of trusts before 1822 are sparse, and it has not so far been possible in most cases to draw a detailed picture of their early years. From 1822 onwards, however, road trusts rendered yearly accounts to Parliament and a more or less complete set of these accounts exists in Kent County Archives.22 It is possible to glean from these and from Parliamentary reports from 1820 onwards, 1-2 some idea of the general style of management of the trusts, their financial and other problems, and of the maintenance and improvement of roads under their care. CHATHAM AND CANTERBURY TRUST With toll-gates at Chatham (later Gillingham), Norton and Harbledown, the trust had a total income in 1829-30 of £2,920. By 1840, the income had fallen to £2,005, by 1850 to £1,373 and by 1860 to £1,029. Mortgage debts reached a peak of £6,400. There is no evidence of further borrowing after 1822, and the accounts do not reveal any 20 John Cary, New Itinerary, 6th edition, 1815, 632. 21 Canterbury Cathedral Library, Minutes of the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners, 1787-1866. 22 KAO, Q/RUt 1-56. 175 F.H. PANTON major improvement schemes in the years to the end of the trust's life in 1867. By dint of cutting down expenses, it was possible, despite the decline of income, to have paid off all debts in full before closure. WHITSTABLE TRUST The road ran from Westgate outside Canterbury city wall to the sea at Whitstable and had toll-gates at St. Thomas' Hill and at the bottom of Borstal Hill. In 1822, when the Trust was over eighty years old, income was £855 with a mortgage debt of £50. In the years 1825-29 the debt was increased to £4,050, mainly to pay for improvements in Westgate. Expenditure on purchase of estates, etc., for that purpose was recorded in 1825 at £3,517 10s. 3d., in 1826 £1,180 13s. ½d., in 1827 £367 14s. Od., in 1828 £165 10s. lOd., in 1829 £134 lls. Od. Repayment of the debt started in 1833, but it was not until 1855 that the mortgages had been cleared. By 1863, although the toll revenue had fallen to less than £500 a year, sufficient money had been accrued to undertake gradient improvements at Borstal Hill, just outside Whitstable, at a cost of £860 ls. 5d., and further improvements costing £122 are recorded in 1864. CANTERBURY AND BARHAM DOWNS TRUST A toll-bar was at Gutteridge Corner, 5 miles outside Canterbu􀁹. Income in the years 1799-1802 was £342, £324, £324 and £420. 3 Regarding the increase in 1802, it may be significant that in that year the toll collector paid money twice a month to the treasurer, instead of once a month as in previous years. Toll income for August, the month of the Barham Downs Races, was twice that of the next highest monthly income, and extra collectors were hired for the race period. Total debt in 1801 was £5,200. In 1822-23, total income at Gutteridge Gate was £970, and mortgage debt was listed at £6,563. In the years 1827-29, major work was undertaken to smooth the gradients at Bridge, Barham and Denne Hills at a cost of about £2,000. Mortgage debt rose to £7,700 in 1830. By 1839, toll income had risen to over £1,000 a year, but declined throughout the 1840s to £631 in 1850. No further major improvements are listed in the yearly accounts, and the debt was reduced to £3,100 by 1866. When the Trust closed in 1878, the remaining £900 mortgage debt was paid off 23 KAO, T6/1. 176 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA with £478, a poor return after more than fifty years. The debt was never widely spread; in 1800, when the debt stood at £5,200, it was shared amongst eight people and one firm of bankers. FA VERSHAM-ASHFORD-HYTHE-CANTERBURY TRUST This trust centred on Ashford, and provided turnpike roads from Ashford to Hythe via Willesborough and Mersham; from Ashford to Faversham via Sheldwich, and from Ashford to Canterbury initially via Godmersham, Shalmsford Bridge, Chartham Downs and Wincheap. Toll-gates were at Sheldwich and Goatley Lees, Lacton Green, Willesborough and Hythe, and Wincheap and Kempe's Corner. Tolls in 1822/23 were £1,533 5s. 7d., £524 of that from toll collectors on the Canterbury-Ashford branch. By 1830, toll income was nearly £2,000 per annum and in the early 1840s it exceeded £2,000 per annum. By 1850, it had fallen to £1,375 but, in the 1850s and 1860s, it maintained a level between £1,400 and £1,550 per annum. In 1823, the mortgage debt was £3,100, but assets in investments and in cash in hand more than covered this. In the years 1824-27 a diversion of 3½ miles of the Hythe branch was undertaken at a cost of £800. In those years, too, land near Sellindge Church was bought for £203 18s. and a new Act of Parliament procured to prolong the Trust for a further 21 years at a cost of £349 19s. 3½d. Nevertheless, management of the trust was such that the debts remained at £3,100 and were more than offset by real assets. In 1830-32, the trust undertook the major task of re-aligning the Canterbury branch. This involved two new stretches: (a) from Bilting Green in Godmersham, east of Godmersham Church, across the Stour and parallel to the Stour eastwards and northwards, recrossing the Stour to join the old road near Baghams Cross in Chilham; a total distance of 3 miles 3 furlongs; (b) from Shalmsford along the north side of the Stour northwards, eastwards, and north-eastwards recrossing the Stour over a new bridge near Milton Chapel, south of Thanington, to rejoin the old road (which ran over Shalmsford Bridge across the Chartham Downs on the south side of the Stour) at the south-west end of Wincheap; total distance of this stretch 3 miles 4 furlongs.24 The accounts of 1830-31 list a payment of £1,600 to the Shalmsford and Godmersham committees 'on account of the new line of road'; £6,074 14s. Od. were given to the same committees in 24 KAO, Q/RUm 96. 177 F.H. PANTON 1831/32, together with £300 for soliciting a new Act of Parliament for the new line of the road. £2,500 was spent on the project in 1832/33. Total expenditure on this 7 miles of new road was over £10,000. To pay for this, stock assets were realised, cash in hand was run down, and mortgage debt increased to over £8,000. Among the eight prominent landowners and citizens from whom the £5,000 were borrowed for this enterprise were Edward Knight of Godmersham (£500) and Sir E. Knatchbull (£1,000). The surveyor of the new road was Thomas Thurston of Ashford, but the superintending surveyor of the trust at the time seems to have been Robert Jenner of Boughton Aluph. Thurston replaced Jenner in the trust in 1841, by which time Thurston and his firm were surveyors to five trusts centred on Ashford. No further major improvements are listed during the lifetime of the trust, though some improvements were made at Ashford Hill Bridge and Selling in the late 1860s, at a cost of a few hundred pounds. Regular repayments of the debt reduced mortgage to £5,065 by 1847, but it was not until 1871, when the Trust finally wound up, that the last debt of £350 was cleared. Sale of toll-houses and land for £729 left a healthy balance of £747 to be shared among the local Highway Boards taking the roads over. CANTERBURY TO RAMSGATE TRUST This was divided into two districts, independently managed, both about 8 miles in length one centred in Canterbury, the other in Ramsgate, with Sarre as the mid-point between the two. The first district, from Canterbury to Sarre, with toll-houses at Vauxhall between Sturry and Canterbury, and at Upstreet, had a toll income of £788 in 1822/23 with debts of £2,000. In 1825/26 £576 13s. 3d. was paid to procure a new Act of Parliament for proposed improvements in conjunction with the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners in Palace Street, Canterbury (see below), and for surveyors and plans and in 1828-30, £1,000 was spent on that project; mortgage debt was accordingly increased to £3,000. Toll income in 1835 had risen to £900, and remained at levels between £600 and £800 per annum during the 1840s and 1850s. Debt in 1851 was £2,272, and by 1865 the Tust was free of debt. The second district had toll-gates at Sarre and Nether Court, with an income of £474 14s. Od. in 1822-23. Mortgage debt stood at £4,805 that year. The final account of the trust in 1867 shows that the remaining £800 debt was paid off by £506 in hand at closure. 178 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA CANTERBURY PA YEMENT COMMISSIONERS The 1787 Act for paving, cleansing, lighting and watching the City of Canterbury set up Pavement Commissioners for that purpose and inter alia empowered them to levy tolls, at the usual rates, on carriages and horses entering Canterbury, and to collect duty, at ls. a chaldron or ton, on coal coke or ash being brought into Canterbury. To collect the tolls, they were authorized to set up toll-gates and houses on the London and the Thanet road, not more than 3 miles from Westgate and Northgate, respectively. To collect the coal duty, they were authorized to set up as many toll-gates as necessary on the roads leading into Canterbury, again, not more than 3 miles from the city. As a third source of income, the commissioners were empowered to levy an annual rate on householders and others within the city. They were also empowered to raise loans up to a total of £10,000, with the tolls, coal duty and rates as security. The commissioners once appointed moved with commendable speed.21 By the end of their first month, April 1787, they had agreed with the Chatham-Canterbury turnpike trustees that the existing collector at Harbledown should also collect street tolls and coal duty for the commissioners, his salary of £60 to be shared between the two bodies in proportion to the monies collected; had concluded an arrangement with the Whitstable trust for their collector at the bottom of St. Thomas' Hill to collect coal duty on payment of an extra £10 per annum for his services; had started to set up a toll-gate and house on the Sturry road at Vauxhall and had appointed a collector; had set up a gate at St. Stephen's to catch coal duty from those coming from Broadoak and Tylers Hill; had consulted the surveyor of the city of London on the methods and materials to be used in paving the city; had begun preparations to light the city; had appointed eight watchmen at 9s. a week in winter and 7s. a week each in the summer, to patrol seven districts of Canterbury, and had supplied them with clothing, etc., watchmen's boxes, and had specified their patrol routes. By the end of May 1787, a contractor (Messrs. Meredith and Young) had been appointed to pave the length of Canterbury High Street between the walls. Methodically, the Commissioners surveyed each area of Canterbury, in advance of paving, to determine the line of the carriageway and of the footpath, and to ensure that no protruding bay-window, lean-to, steps, railings, etc., should be allowed to continue to obstruct the road or footpath. In most instances, they insisted that windows be in line with the foundations of the buildings, and they used the powers given to them to enable their inspector of works to coerce and compel householders. They paid particular attention to water dispo- 179 F.H. PANTON sal, ordering householders and others to instal proper gutters and drain-pipes. The Commissioners installed between 100 and 150 lamps within the walls of Canterbury and, in the streets immediately outside the walls, lighting from August to May, sunset to sunrise. The commissioners were concerned about lamp-breaking, parking problems and fouling of the carriageway and pavement. At various times, they appointed a scavenger or scavengers and an inspector of nuisances. Penalties for lamp-breaking were 40s. a time, with a reward for informers. Warnings were issued against any carriage left standing in the street at any time of day, and against the use of footpaths as carriageways or for business, and against the throwing of fireworks. A fine of 5s. was fixed for those residents not sweeping their pavement-front daily. By 30 November, 1789, the whole of the necessary works and improvements within the city walls had been completed, and the commissioners received a formal vote of thanks from the Burghmote for the excellent work done. By that time, they had borrowed and spent their maximum loan of £10,000; £4,000 against coal duty, £3,500 against street tolls, and the remainder against the rates. The commissioners then dispensed with the office of inspector of works, appointing him surveyor instead, at no fixed salary. A committee of survey was set up to supervise repairing, lighting, watching and scavenging on a continuing basis. They also turned their attention to the paving and lighting of areas outside the walls, such as Westgate, North Lane and Northgate, at the request of the inhabitants of those areas, levying rates from the inhabitants outside the walls and borrowing more money against those rates. The commissioners do not seem to have had an easy time financially in the early decades of the nineteenth century. For the early years of the century, it may be inferred from the evidence examined that yearly income was less than about £2,000. About £400 was from coal duty, £400 from street tolls, and the remainder from rates. Of the total income £475 per annum went to pay mortgage interest, about £300 per annum on lighting, about £300 on watching, about £100 on salaries and law fees, and the remainder on street repairs and improvements (£600-£1,000 per annum, say). Income from street tolls on the London road increased to £602 10s. in 1808, reaching a peak of £850 in 1839, declining steadily to £585 in 1841, and further to £172 10s. in 1847. The Ramsgate first district trustees continued to pay the commissioners a £200 per annum share of the Vauxhall tolls during those years. Coal duty in the years 1814-22 averaged £380 a year. A committee of enquiry in 1823 found that whereas an estimated 8,659 chaldrons of coal were imported at Whitstable for Canterbury duty was paid on 6,945; 1713 escaped. 180 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA Although perturbed by this loss of revenue, the commissioners do not seem to have found a way to stop it. The coming of the railway decreased the coal duty collected at the toll-bars, but duty on the coals carried by the railway itself more than compensated for the loss. In 1841, £172 12s. ld. was collected as duty at the London Road, but £588 9s. 9d. was paid over by the railway in duty. In 1818, the commissioners contracted for the installation of gas-mains and the supply of gas-lamps to light the city. It was held that the move would 'prove an ornament to the City and ensure a great saving of funds'. By 1820, the placing of 97 gas-lamps within the city was complete, and it would appear that the gas company bore the majority of the cost of installation, £220 only appearing in the commissioners' accounts. The initial cost of one year's lighting was £247, but, by 1843, this had risen to £787 10s. per annum for 190 lamps. By 1841, a sum of £1,361 was owing to the gas company, increasing yearly. By 1841, the commissioners had a total mortgage debt of some £14,000; the initial £10,000 borrowed still being owed, plus over £2,000 borrowed to finance improvements outside the city walls, and the amount owing to the gas company. To give the commissioners the opportunity to remedy this state of affairs an amending Act of Parliament was procured.25 In addition to changing the mode of election and operation of the commissioners, the rating clauses of the original Act were repealed and rewritten, presumably with the basic intention of enabling more rate to be raised. At the same time, in line with the general drive to end tolls and duty on roads and streets, the new Act decreed that the income from street tolls should henceforth be devoted to paying off the £3,500 outstanding debt against the tolls and similarly that coal duty should be devoted to paying off the £4,000 borrowed against the duty. When these debts had been discharged, coal duty and street toll should cease. The commissioners were further empowered to borrow up to £7,500 (including the £5,300 already outstanding) against the rates. The Act succeeded in putting the commissioners further into debt. Mortgages against coal duty and street tolls started to be paid off, but rate income declined rather than increased, and was not sufficient for the commissioners to cover the necessary running costs. Nor did the new procedures for the election and operation of the commissioners appear to work very well. In 1844, a further amending Act26 was procured giving the commissioners clearer and wider powers to 25 4 and 5 VIC C66. 26 7 and 8 VIC C53. 181 F.H. PANTON collect the rates, and increasing the borrowing powers against the rates to £9,000. An amended system of election and operation of the commissioners was predicated. Together, these two acts cost the commissioners nearly £2,300; a sum they could only pay by adding to their mortgage debt. However, the new amendments seemed to do the trick, the rate income climbing from £974 9s. 6d. in 1844 to £2,063 in 1849.27 The last mortgage repayment from coal duty was made in 1847, and coal duty was discontinued in that year. The last mortgage repayment from street tolls was made in 1850, and the tolls were then discontinued. From 1850 to 1866 the commissioners relied solely on rates from the inhabitants of Canterbury for their income. In 1866, their responsibilities were assumed by the city authorities. During the years 1787-1850, the commissioners of the Canterbury Pavement in effect operated a turnpike trust for the streets of Canterbury, and appeared to have done so in reasonable amity with the trustees of the turnpike roads leading to and from Canterbury, acting with them to avoid unnecessary duplication of toll-bars. For the most part, the commissioners relied on the toll-bars at Harbledown on the Chatham-Canterbury turnpike to collect street tol1s and coal duty for them and the toll-bar at St. Thomas' Hill on the Whitstable turnpike to collect coal duty, with appropriate recompense, though there were periods when the commissioners in addition set up their own bar in St. Dunstan's to catch traffic from both the London and the Whitstable roads. When the Canterbury to Ramsgate turnpike trust (first district) was set up in 1802, the commissioners handed over the collection of tolls and duty on the Sturry road at Vauxhall to the trustees, in return for £130 per annum, later increased to £200 per annum Similarly, on the formation of the Herne to Sturry turnpike the commissioners used the trust's Sweech toll-gate (less than three miles from Canterbury) to collect the small amount of coal revenues escaping them by that route. The Canterbury to Sandwich turnpike collector at St. Martin's Hill also collected coal duty for the Pavement. For many years, until forbidden to do so by Parliament, the Whitstable trustees contributed towards the cost of lighting Westgate and St. Dunstan's. In the years 1827-29, the commissioners and the trustees of the Ramsgate trust co-operated in a scheme to improve and widen the north-east end of Palace Street to 27 Canterbury Cathedral Library, Account Book of the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners, 1841--66. 182 TURNPIKE ROADS IN nm CANTERBURY AREA Cold Harbour Lane in Northgate, leading to the Sturry road, each contributing £1,000 to the cost. In 1787, other east Kent towns such as Margate and Sandwich promoted Paving Bills similar to that of Canterbury. As a sidelight, that at Sandwich caused some concern in Fordwich and Canterbury, since its first draft called for a toll of ls. per chaldron of coal arriving at Sandwich, whether off-loaded there or simply in transit. Messrs. Rust and Tolson of Fordwich protested, since this meant double tolls on coal for Canterbury through Sandwich and Fordwich. With the help of a petition, and assisted by local M.P.s such as George Gipps and Filmer Honeywood, the final Bill was amended to charge tax only on those coals landed at Sandwich. 28 HERNE TRUST; MACKENADE TRUST; STOCKERSHEAD TRUST For completion, three smaller trusts in the Canterbury area need to be mentioned. The Herne trust (1814) ran the five miles from Sturry to Herne Bay. In 1833, toll income was £508, mortgage debt £3,000. By 1860, toll income had fallen to £300 per annum and mortgage debt stood at £2,000. In 1877, when the trust closed, the remaining debt of £1,050 was discharged by payment of £437 15s. 9d. The Mackenade trust was an independently managed branch of the Chatham-Canterbury trust, running from Mackenade Corner in Preston (Faversham) through Selling to Baghams Cross, in Chilham. Toll-gates at Mackenade Corner and Selling in 1832 produced an income of £124 Bs. 5d. and the mortgage debt was £1,250. Further borrowings, and adding unpaid interest to the debt, increased this to £2,033. By 1841, all the £108 net tolls was reserved for servicing the loans, 'the parishes maintaining their own road'. From 1855 onwards, the Mackenade trust accounts were reported as part of the ChathamCant 􀁲rbury trust accounts, and, in that year, the Mackenade toll revenue was £111 3s. 6d. with debts at £1,975. No interest was paid from 1855 onwards. By 1862, the debt stood at £1,045, though the full amount of the mortgage was not always discharged in repayment. In 1863, the trust was fully merged with its parent, the Chatham and Canterbury trust. By then, the latter had paid off all its mortgage debts and the intention was to use its income to pay off the Mackenade debts. This was achieved by 1866 and, in 1867, the combined trust was closed. The merger of the two trusts was 28 Kentish Gazette, March 16--20, March 25-27, March 27-30, April 1-3, April 3-6, May 29-Juoe 1st, 1787. 183 P.H. PANTON facilitated by the fact that trustees were in common, and some of them were also Mackenade creditors. The Stockershead-Baghams Cross trust turnpike ran from the top of Charing Hill to Chilham, linking the Biddenden and Boundgate turnpike with the Canterbury to Ashford turnpike. In 1822/23 revenues from the toll gates at Challock and Chilham totalled £199, mortgage debt was £2,075 and unpaid interest £90 12s. 2d. By 1833, toll income had fallen to £123 and by 1848, to less than £100. By 1851, mortgage debt remained at £2,075 with unpaid interest now totalling over £2,000. In 1855, interest rate was cut from 4 per cent to 2 per cent and, apparently by the stroke of a pen, the unpaid interest reduced to £98 (£15 previous to 1835, and two years of 2 per cent due 1855-£83). The following years list such payments as £111 5s. to pay off £525, £50 to pay off £200, £40 to pay off £325, £50 to pay off £200, etc. By 1874, the total debt was £425, with a balance remaining of £46 6s. l½d. STATUTE LABOUR; PAYMENTS IN LIEU Surveyors appointed to the turnpike trusts were gradually invested with most of the powers of the parish highway surveyor as envisaged in the Act of Philip and Mary in 1555, amended by subsequent Acts. Trust surveyors were in time able to agree with parishes the annual amount to be raised by the parish surveyor and to be paid as a lump sum to the turnpike surveyor in lieu of a specific share of statute labour. This composition was received as income by all the trusts mentioned in this paper. For instance, the Canterbury and Sandwich trust composition amounted to £80 18s. in 1822/23 from the parishes of Longport, St. Martin's, Littlebourne, Ickham, Wingham, Staple, Ash and Woodnesborough. Tolls at this time were £800 a year. In general, payments in lieu of statute labour in the east Kent area seem to have been based on a rate from £6-£10 a mile of road a year, and in most cases represented not more than about ten per cent of the income of the trust. Statute labour payments assumed greater importance for the small trusts such as Stockershead, where they ran at £53 a year, compared with a total toll income of never more than £200 a year. Rates were of course levied by the Canterbury pavement commissioners themselves, formed a major part of their income, and eventually the sole source of income. 184 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA OFFICIALS AND THEIR SALARIES The affairs of the trust were in the hands of the trustees, a self-perpetuating body whose initial members were generally named in the Trust Act. The Whitstable Trust Act of 1736 named over 60 trustees, among them such local notables as Sir Edward Deering, Sir William Hardres, Sir John Hales, Sir George Oxenden, and Rev. Dr. John Lynch, Dean of Canterbury. Generally, any five trustees could constitute a quorum for action. Management of trusts between meeting of trustees was normally in the hands of three officers; the treasurer, the clerk, and the surveyor, and by the end of the eighteenth century the practice of appointing professionals to those offices was universal; a local banker or banking firm as treasurer, a local solicitor or solicitor's firm as clerk and a local surveyor or surveyor's firm as surveyor. The surveyor's knowledge of roadmaking and mending might not be very impressive. The Canterbury Pavement Commission followed a somewhat similar pattern; there were 100 commissioners, including Knights of the shire, M.P.s and J.P.s, local authority dignatories and business men, with a clerk, treasurer and inspector of works or surveyor. The importance of the trust to the city authorities was obviously recognised; in the initial years the treasurer and prime mover was Alderman (subsequently Mayor) James Simmons. In 1833-34, the line up of officers of trusts centred on Canterbury was as follows (remuneration in brackets): Trust Treasurer Canterbury Halford, Baldock and Sandwich and Smoulten, Bankers, Canterbury (nil) Canterbury Hammond, Plumptre, and Barham Parker, Farley. Bankers, Canterbury (nil) Clerk Curteis and Kingford, Solicitors, Canterbury (£25) Curteis and Kingford, Canterbury (£20) Surveyor William Collis, Sturry. (£50) William Collis, Sturry. (£45) Whitstable Halford and Co., Mawer Cowton, William Collis Bankers, Canterbury Solicitor, Canterbury (replaced by Richard Minter Mount of Canterbury in 1835) (nil) (£15) (£40) 185 F.H. PANTON Canterbury- Hammond, Plumptre, Curteis and Ramsgate, Farley, Hilton and Kingford, first district Farley, Canterbury ( 1840) Bankers, Canterbury (nil) Herne Bay Edward Kingsford John James Peare, Baker, Banker, Solicitor, Canterbury Canterbury (nil) (£25) Chatham- John Farley, Charles Sanders, Canterbury Banker, Solicitor Canterbury Chatham (nil) (£20) Canterbury Curteis and Curteis and Kingford Kingford, Canterbury Canterbury (In 1841, W.H. Farley) (nil) (£40) William Collis, Sturry. (clerk and suveyor, £40 total) William Collis, Sturry (£10 increasing to £20) E. Drake, Gillingham (£ll0) (£50 in 1839, replaced in 1837 by Sir J. McAdam) None (George Hurst, Canterbury, appointed 1844) The stipends of the professionals running the trusts were not large, representing in most cases in total less than ten per cent of the trust's income. As the trust's income declined, the salary levels remained the same. An exception to this was when Sir J. McAdam replaced E. Drake on the Chatham trust in 1837; by 1839, the surveyor's salary had gone down to £50 from £110, and the amount spent on road repairs decreased. No doubt McAdam's well-known powers of efficient and economic management were operating. The pavement commissioners were peculiar in having the office of clerk and treasurer jointly held for over twenty years until forbidden by the amended Act of 1841. Nor did they have a surveyor for some years up to 1844 preferring to act through an approved committee of commissioners. No doubt the officers in their respective ways benefited professionally in addition to their salaries, as the work and resources of the trust were supervised by them. Nevertheless, the returns to be expected for the work done do not seem to have been an excessive drag on the trusts. With the degree of commonality of officers, it would have been surprising if the trust had acted in other than reasonable amity. 186 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA ROAD MAINTENANCE William Collis of Sturry acted as surveyor for some years for five trusts based on Canterbury. That the roads received similar treatment is not therefore surprising, 1834 Canterbury to Sandwich (11½ miles). Road repaired with gravel from the pits. Nothing paid for gravel, but repayment for damage done at 3d. or 4d. a ton. About 1,500 tons of gravel annually. 1834 Canterbury-Barham (7½ miles). Road repaired with flints by contract the greater part. About 1,600 tons annually at 2s. a ton on the road, 1833 Herne Bay (5½ miles). Repaired with gravel. Nothing paid but 4d. a ton damages. 900 tons annually. Whitstable - no specific information, but Act empowers trustees to take gravel from local pits. For comparison other trusts in the area reported as follows: 1851 Faversham, Ashford, Hythe, Canterbury (36½ miles). Road repaired with gravel, surface flints and ragstone. Pit gravel is 4d., flints ls. 4d. a yard, including carriage. Damage at 6d. a yard. 1,200 yards pit gravel 1,200 yards flint annually. 1834 Chartham-Canterbury (23½ miles) 5,700 yards gravel flint and chalk ragstone, at ls. 6d. a yard annually. The main preoccupation seems to have been with surface dressing, and an average of well over 100 tons of gravel and flints were put on the surface of each mile of road each year. There is little mention of watering, for binding and dust, except for the Barham and Sandwich roads, where moderate sums of up to £25 a year for water are occasionally listed. This must be compared with the New Cross trust, where amounts of up to £2,000 a year out of a £15,000 income were disbursed on watering. The conclusion must be that, despite their less frequent use, the roads in the Canterbury area would have been less well consolidated and dustier than those of the New Cross trust. As might be expected, the Canterbury pavement commissioners paved the streets of Canterbury with material more substantial than gravel, then used Guernsey stone at 8s. a sq. yard for carriageways, with old stones at 9d. a sq. yard. Yorkshire Ealing Edge paving-stone was used for footways, at 5s. 6d. a sq. yard, with 6d. a sq. yard for old flat paving and ls. 8d. a foot-run for moorstone kerbs, as facing for footings. No details are available of the foundations of the streets. In the 1820s the commissioners began to macadamise the streets of Canterbury, at an initial cost greater than other methods. The 187 F.H. PANTON turnpike trusts seem to have stuck to the old methods of spreading more gravel and flints on the surface. TOLL-HOUSES AND MILESTONES Tangible evidence of the age of the turnpike is still with us in the form of toll-houses and milestones. Close to Canterbury there is the Sweech Gate toll-house three-quarters of a mile from Sturry on the Herne Road; the Sarre Gate toll-house on the Ramsgate road; the toll-house at the bottom of Borstal HiU on the edge of Whitstable; and the toll-house at Kempe's Corner near Wye on the Ashford road. Though much improved from the original two or three room structures, their origins are quite recognisable. The toll-house at Gutteridge Gate on the Barham road is incorporated in the Old Gate House Inn. Current issues of O .S. maps indicate an almost complete set of milestones in place on all the ex-turnpike roads out of Canterbury. In practice, many are difficult to find, and some may have disappeared. The Ramsgate road has milestones in place from Canterbury to the sixth milestone before Ramsgate. The second, third, fourth and fifth milestones of the Canterbury-Whitstable road are in place, and in good condition. Milestones from Canterbury on the London road are in place at least as far as Ospringe, but are somewhat battered. Two of the milestones on the Ashford-Canterbury road may be plainly seen; the tenth and the sixth mile from Canterbury. Others are in place but have to be searched for. One is incorporated in a farmyard wall, and another was, at the time of inspection, lying full length in the undergrowth by the side of the road. There is a fine milestone beyond Bridge on the Old Dover road, and a somewhat worn milestone at Bramling on the Sandwich road. HIGHWAY DISTRICTS OF KENT The responsibility of each parish to maintain its roads remained throughout the turnpike era. In the early nineteenth century, 15,000 highway parishes in England and Wales disbursed about £1 million a year in road upkeep outside the turnpike system. In 1835, an Act was passed to encourage these myriad authorities to band together in larger and more economic areas, without any real success. The Highways Act of 1862 finally empowered justices in Quarter Sessions compulsorily to combine parishes and highway districts. In compliance with that Act, and after much discussion and many meetings 188 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA convened by J.P.s, H.A Wildes, Clerk of the Peace for Kent, promulgated 15 highway districts for Kent,29 amongst them the Canterbury district, called the Home District. The Home District included the parishes of Acol, Bekesbourne, Blean, Bridge, Chartham, Chester, St. Dunstan's, Fordwich, Hackington, Harbledown, Hardres, Herne, Hoath, Holy Cross, Westgate Without, Melton (in Thanet), Minster-in-Thanet, Monkton, Nackington, Patrixbourne, Petham, Reculver, St. John the Baptist (not within Margate), St. Lawrence, St. Nicholas-at-Wade, St. Peter the Apostle, Sarre, Seasalter, Stonar, Sturry, Swalecliffe, Thanington, Waltham, Westbere and Whitstable. Each parish could elect a way warden to serve on the highway board. The first meeting of the Home District Highway Board was scheduled to take place at the Sessions House Canterbury on 13 April, 1863, at 12.30 p.m. As the trusts ended, stretches of road were handed over to the appropriate highway district or parish, or, in the case of towns, to the borough or urban sanitary authority. The extra burden caused resentment and, from 1876 onwards, a grant in aid of £200,000 was made to defray some of the costs of maintaining 'disturnpiked' main roads. From 1878 onwards, justices in Quarter Sessions were required to contribute half the cost of maintenance of roads disturnpiked subsequent to 1870. In a return to the House of Lords through the Local Government Board, Whitehall, the following Kent trust roads in the Canterbury area are listed as having been disturnpiked in 1870-78, and estimates of the cost of maintenance are given:30 Canterbury to Ramsgate (second District) Nil (Parish repairs) Canterbury to Sandwich £594 10s. 10d. Whitstable £173 Os. !Od. Faversharo, Hythe, Ashford, Canterbury £1,016 ISs. 3d. A return of turnpikes to expire witl.Jin five years of June 1878 was also made and included Canterbury to Barham £29619s. 4d. These figures for maintenance are not too different for the actual repair figures for the trusts in their declining years. The Local Government Act of 1894 abolished both highway districts and highway parishes. By the end of the century, all turnpike roads had disappeared, and the onus for maintenance of main roads was firmly with the County Councils. 29 KAO, QIAH 1. 30 KAO, Q/AH 4. 189 F.H. PANTON SUMMARY Routes from Canterbury to London via Chatham, and to the sea via Whitstable were turnpiked by 1736, but it was not until the first decade of the nineteenth century that access from Canterbury to all important towns in Kent and beyond was available by turnpike. By that time also, the commissioners of the Canterbury pavement, with powers similar to and wider than those of road trustees, had paved, lighted, cleansed and watched the roads and streets in Canterbury, particularly those connecting with the turnpike routes. At their peak in the 1820s, there were some twenty independent trusts operating in the east Kent and Canterbury area. The six major routes out of Canterbury (Chatham, Whitstable, Ashford, Sandwich, Ramsgate, Dover) each had its own trust. Together the six trusts had a total income of £7,000 a year, with a total mortgage debt of £33,000. The Stone Street to Lympne road was never turnpiked and was held in the early nineteenth century to be difficult and dangerous for carriages. The numerous trustees in charge of the trusts for the most part delegated the day-to-day management to local professional bankers, solicitors and surveyors appointed as treasurers, clerks, and surveyors. There was a good deal of commonality; in 1830, five Canterbury trusts were in the hands of two sets of Canterbury bankers, three firms of solicitors, and a single surveyor. One of the firms of solicitors also ran the Canterbury pavement as treasurer/ clerk. Two major changes in the lines of routes from Canterbury were engineered by the trusts; the building of the New Dover Road, from St. George's Gate to Barham for which the Canterbury to Barham trust was set up in 1791, and the present line of the Ashford to Canterbury main road, built by the Faversham-Ashford-HytheCanterbury trust in 1830-32. The cost of road building in turnpike days appeared to be about £1,500 a mile. The main improvements by the Whitstable trust from 1823 onwards centred on Westgate, presumably a widening scheme, and Borstal Hill, a gradientsmoothing operation. The Canterbury-Barham trust smoothed gradients at Bridge, Barham and Denne in 1827-29, and in 1823 the Canterbury to Ramsgate (First District) trust built a new short stretch of road at Sarre. The operation of the Canterbury pavement commissioners in clearing, paving, lighting and patrolling the streets must have transformed the appearance of Canterbury in the years 1797 to 1799. All the trusts in the Canterbury area suffered from downturn in income in the post railway era. However, the downturn may not have been as swift or as severe as in other parts of the country, because the 190 TURNPIKE ROADS IN THE CANTERBURY AREA initial route taken by the railways through Kent to the coast did not parallel the turnpike routes. All the trusts in the Canterbury area had to struggle many years to pay off their debts before closing down and some of the smaller trusts were not completely successful in doing so. The Canterbury pavement commissioners were able to clear their toll and coal tax mortgages relatively quickly by relying on their income from the rates to keep them afloat. The Canterbury-Barham trust was the last of the Canterbury trusts to close, in 1878, without being able to discharge its debts in full. Responsibility for the streets of Canterbury were assumed by the city authorities in 1866. The Home Highway District, covering the Canterbury area, was set up in 1862, and took over progressively responsibility for turnpike routes in the area as the trusts dissolved. By the end of the century the county had assumed full responsibility for all main roads. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should like to thank Tim Tatton-Brown, Paul Bennett, and other members of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, for their encouragement and advice in undertaking this work. 191